Deep Fried Homicide (The Donut Shop Mysteries) Read Online Free Page B

believe that?”
“Okay, I’ll admit that it’s going to be tough,” I said, “but Jake needs me.  There are only three people in the world that I would do this for: Jake, Momma, and you.”
“I’m touched,” Grace said.  “What does Jake think about your plans of being with him around the clock?”
“I haven’t told him yet,” I said as I bit my lip.  “It’s going to put us together during our entire waking moments, and to be honest with you, even though we’ve been dating for quite awhile, this could be a real stumbling block in our relationship.”
“You could always look at it another way,” she suggested.
“How’s that?”
“Think of it as a perfect way to find out if you’re right for each other in the end.  If you can survive his recovery together, you can endure anything.”
“I suppose you’re right,” I said.  “But Grace, what if he gets tired of me and decides to break up with me after this is over?”  I’d been fretting about that very thing since the plan for him to recover at the cottage had first been discussed.  Saying it out loud just made the prospect of losing Jake even worse.
“That’s impossible,” Grace said as she put her pizza down and hugged me.  “If you want my opinion, he’s just going to end up loving you even more than he does right now.”
“I hope you’re right,” I said with a heavy sigh as I picked up another piece of pizza.  “Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“Just be sure to cut him a little slack,” Grace said.  “After all, he did just get shot.”
“Not only that, but he barely fought his boss on the mandatory leave of absence they gave him.  Jake told him that he wanted to stay out a week, but his boss insisted on the full month.  The funny thing about it is that Jake didn’t really put up that much of a fight.  A part of me wonders if he even wants to go back to his old job.”
“I can see how getting shot might do that to him.”
“That’s the thing, though.  You don’t know Jake,” I explained.  “He’s always lived for his work.  When his family was killed in that car accident, he told me that the job was the only thing that saved him.  I’m not so sure he feels that way anymore.”
“I totally get that.  After all, he’s got something else to live for now,” Grace said.
“What’s that?”
“You,” she said.
“I don’t want to lose him, that’s for sure.”
“You won’t,” Grace said. 
After we finished the pizza, she looked around the cottage’s living room.  “This place looks pretty good.  What else do we need to do?  How’s the master bedroom situation?”
“Momma already took care of that, and the kitchen, too.  That just leaves the upstairs, and I’m not going to worry about that.  It’s going to be days before Jake has the strength or the energy to climb those steps.”
“And the bathroom down here?” Grace asked.  “Is there room for his stuff in there?”
“With Momma’s things gone, he’s got the entire run of the master suite.”
Grace looked around once more, and then she added, “I can’t believe that she’s actually gone.  Your mother has lived here as long as I’ve been alive.”
“Me, too, but she told me that even if Jake hadn’t been shot, she was going to move out anyway, so I don’t feel so bad about evicting her.  There were just too many memories here for her to start a new life with someone else.  Too many ghosts around every corner, I guess.”
“I can see that,” Grace said.  “Anyway, now that our work here is finished, would you like me to stay over with you?  Take it from me, it can be awfully lonely being all by yourself in a big old house.”
“You do it all of the time,” I protested.
“Yeah, but I’ve always been tougher than you,” she said with a laugh.
“We both know that’s not true,” I said.  “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to go solo tonight.  Since it’s going to be my only chance to do it for